drawing

1. Use your own photography as reference imagery.

What Is It? Most of us keep dozens—if not hundreds—of pictures stored away in our smart phones without ever doing much more with them besides flashing a few to a family member on holidays. Using your own photos for references are an amazing way to preserve your art as your own, and being able to continually enjoy the moments that may or may not end up stuffed away in a scrapbook. The greatest thing about this is that you can pull out the image anytime to start and stop drawing as you please. Plus: no copyright infringement!

How Will It Inspire Me? You usually only preserve images of the things that you love or find aesthetically pleasing, so picking even just one of your own pictures to draw should be especially easy. It’s also a great way to work on bettering your drawing of faces and the human form, as many of us photograph our loved ones on a regular basis.

What’s Next? 1) Choose another photo and draw some more! 2) Start taking more pictures with the intention of drawing the imagery. Who knows, you might even realize a love for photography!

Hint: Use the settings in your phone to disable automatic shut off so that you don’t have to keep taping the screen while you draw from your reference photo. Just make sure to re-enable it when you’re finished.

2. Participate in #DrawThisInYourStyle.

What Is It? Draw this in your style is a trending online movement where artists post their own original content and characters, in hopes that other artists will love it so much that they too will want to recreate the content or character with their own twist. Currently, there are 200,000+ results on Instagram for #DrawThisInYourStyle, so there is plenty of content (and characters) to pick from! These artists are lending their creativity to you, so you’re free to do with it as you please

How Will It Inspire Me? This challenge lets you create without having to make hard decisions. Of course, the real fun is not in copying, but altering, which means that you can change poses or facial expressions, for example, without needing to have “big” ideas. Plus, it lets you connect with new artists, which is a pretty awesome bonus!

3. Compose Your Own Still Life

What Is It?Still life consists of drawing or painting inanimate objects, most commonly associated with fruit or flowers. But it does not have to be fruit or flowers, of course, which means it could be literally anything laying around your house! Your favorite mug next to a knickknack next to a rock from your yard: draw it! A pillow under a novel under an ink pen: draw it! Still life drawings are more challenging than drawing your own photographed images because your perspective can change, the lighting can change, and you’ll never be able to assemble the objects in the exact same way, so choose this option carefully.

How Will It Inspire Me? Being able to choose the objects that you will find the easiest (or hardest) to draw means that you can make the experience as enjoyable as you please in a way that best fits you.

What’s Next? Change your perspective! Stand over the still life subject, go to the other side of it, or even just rearrange the objects. Fully understanding perspective is one of the hardest things about drawing, and you’re seriously improving your ability by drawing something from multiple angles.

4. Re-Draw Your Own Art

What Is It? This idea is very similar to #DrawThisInYourStyle, but gives you a lot more control over the art that you’re creating. Because you are redrawing your own art, you may feel more comfortable with altering more of the content, as it is your original creation, after all. Not only that, but redrawing your own art makes the content more marketable, if you are in fact creating in order sell.

How Will It Inspire Me? Redrawing your own art tends to make an artist realize how much they’ve actually improved their artistic skills. You’ll not only be creating something, but also proving to yourself the time you’ve invested in your artistic ability hasn’t be for naught. You might also discover a new-found love for the original piece.

What’s Next? Once you’ve realized that your abilities have improved in some areas, you may find that some areas could still use a little work. Try focusing on these less improved areas, whether it be shading, individual facial features, or understanding of perspective. Dont be afraid to redraw something that you’ve already redrawn before!

5. Self Portrait

What Is It? A drawing of yourself! You are the perfect subject because you’ve been looking at the subject your entire life. You also have complete ability of posing your model and know just where to find them when the drawing mood strikes! Several artists are well known for self portraits, and all you require is a drawing utensil and a mirror.

How Will It Inspire Me? Although not every artist wants to draw people, understanding human anatomy and facial structure will lend itself to understanding anatomy of animals as well. That being said, a lot of artists lean toward human beings as their main subject matter, and knowing the simplest form of your face will be useful when drawing any face in general. Not only that, but hey look: you’re a model now!

What’s Next? Your face can make some really great (and bizarre) expressions, so why not try out a few? You don’t have to draw the whole face to draw stretched lips around a smile or scrunched up nose. Focus on doing a few different expressions and you’ll soon have an entire page for future references.

Share this:

Like this:

Have you ever discovered a new clothing store, walked in, and said, “Now this is my style?” Everything in the place just screams your name, and you’d turn the store into your closet if you just had the cash to buy it all out? Well, that’s how I feel about art supply stores. I don’t really care to shop for clothes, but paintbrushes, acrylics, pencils—now that’s my style! And that’s exactly what happened when I’ve discovered Jet Pens. I finally put in an order and received a bit of a haul!

EmK’s Jet Pens Art Supply Haul

The main reason that I purchased these supplies is because I was able to try some Kuretake brand pens and markers via my Art Snacks subscription, and was extremely pleased with those supplies—especially the Kuretake No. 7 Brush Pen that came in my June 2016 Art Snacks box. This haul included 16 Kuretake Zig brand brush pens/markers. I chose to pick up a small set of the Clean Color FB markers, a supply that contains water soluble ink, which makes for a lovely addition to my mixed media art journal pages. The other main part of my haul was a group of Kuretake black brush pens, which is a curated selection by the Jet Pens website as a “sampler,” i.e. different styles of pens made by the Kuretake company. They have a few of these “samplers” on the site, but the Kuretake Brush Pen Samplerwas the one the that caught my eye. And finally, I also picked up a pen case…because it was green and adorable and I’m just a wee bit ridiculous.

Jet Pens Kuretake Black Brush Pen Sampler

In the video found in this post (or HERE on YouTube), I swatch out all of the pens and markers, share the secret of what makes my new pens case so awesome, and tell you the difference between each of the black brush pens found in this small collection. I also share with you my preferred technique for using the Clean Color FB markers, and proudly show off a pretty terrible portrait that I attempted to create in my new sketchbook. This video should be especially helpful for those of your curious about Kuretake brand supplies!

Jet Pens doesn’t sell exactly everything I’d like to keep in my closet (or rather, studio), but I’m a sucker for most of the things on the site. The pens, markers, pencils, sketchbooks, ink, and, well, you get the idea! I’ve been frequenting it for about two months, building up a “wishlist,” one of my favorite things about the site. But I also really appreciate that the website has a blog in which the posters create guides, how-to articles, and compare and contrast multiple tools available on the site; I’m all about research, and the Jet Pens blog makes it easy. I had read some of the blog posts before ever looking at the available supplies, and think it’s a pretty great resource for the curious artist. No, I’m not being paid to say this, I’m just strangely passionate about the statistics and facts concerning art supplies.

Are you a Kuretake or Jet Pens fan? If so, leave me a comment and let me know what pens, markers, or other tools that you love! I’m always trying to find the next great supply!

Share this:

Like this:

Do you ever find yourself returning to a certain image, not because it means anything special to you, not because it’s easy to draw, not because you’ve somehow amassed a collection of it from thin air, but for reasons that you cant explain? Do you doodle it on post-it notes and in the margins of your notebooks, letting your mind idle and your pen move freely in shapes it’s made a hundred times before? Of course you do! I know I do, and while I have about three or four of those types of images, I’m here to share just one with you today: crystal clusters.

Crystal Cluster Doodles in an Art Journal Spread

Crystals clusters can be tricky, because a a crystalline structure requires straight lines and doesn’t respond kindly to shaky hands. For art journaling and other mixed media works, attempting to create perfect lines over layers of thick paint and overlapping mediums can be a nearly impossible feat. One way that I avoid this issue is to create a simple digital line drawing that I can then print out onto thick paper or card stock. Bristol paper can take a thin layer of watercolor especially nicely, and is available in reams sold with printer paper. Vellum Bristol (in 67 lb) is my go-to for the printed imagery that I use in my mixed media projects! In the image below, you can see two instances in which I’ve used a crystal cluster as the focal imagery of art journal spreads.

Crystal Clusters as Focal Imagery in Art Journal Spreads

In the journal shown above, the red and orange crystals were originally created digitally, whereas the green and yellow clusters were had drawn. The difference in line definition is obvious. For the digital line work, I found it was fairly quick to create, cut out, and adhere in my journal spread. While I often reach for a straight edge when adding large crystals to the pages of my journal, I appreciate the crispness of straight lines that can only be rendered digitally. On occasion, I have also colored these crystals digitally. The image below consists of the same line drawing shown in the orange and red spread above. This version has be altered to include art journal spreads as the coloring of the crystals—which I’m thinking might eventually turn into stickers! This shows you how very different the same line drawing can appear approached as either digital art (below), or as a physical image incorporated into mixed media (above).

Digital Drawing of Crystal Cluster

Would you like to try your hand at using digital line art in your mixed media? I find it relaxing to use imagery that has either been digitally created or is from a photograph; altering these types of images makes them uniquely mine, but are also far less frustrating to botch an image like this than one drawn from scratch! I hope that some of you try your hand at crystal drawing, but because it’s Freebie Wednesday, I”m also sharing some digital line work with you for you to use in your own mixed media artwork! The picture below portrays line work from the PDF that I’m giving you this week, containing digital illustrations of crystals and crystal clusters, which drawn specifically for you!

Preview of Crystal Clusters Freebies

These are HD images are available as a full page PDF file. I advocate using this line works as collage material for your own arty goodness!! Just click the link below to print and/or download the PDF! You can print them out and alter them and collage them into your art! Just get creative and have fun. The only thing that I ask is that you not redistribute these freebies or claim an unaltered version as your own. You do not need to credit me if you use these freebies in your art, but I definitely wouldn’t turn down a shout out!

Share this:

Like this:

The supply that I’m discussing today has been an obsession of mine for about a year, starting from when I discovered it though an online impulse buy. I had been looking into new ways of getting color onto paper, other than the convention routine of paint or pen. That’s when I came across Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay India ink. Since that purchase, I’ve added Daler-Rowney neon inks, the Liquitex INK! muted color edition, and others to my growing collection. I can honestly say that I have developed a love for using bottled ink!

Artist’s Acrylic Inks, Drawing Ink, and India Inks

Ink, like so many other art supplies, can be used beyond it’s initial purpose when combined with the practice of mixed media—which is exactly why my collection is growing. Ink is incredibly versatile as an incarnation of liquid pigment that can be used with a paintbrush, added to acrylics, or dripped and splattered with ease. Most inks are transparent and will stain a surface when applied as a thin layer. Adding a wash of ink will add color without covering the details or imagery. For my use, inks are like permanent watercolors, adding a splash of the unpredictable as it flows across my art!

Daler-Rowney FW Ink in Flame Orange

While I do like to use my inks in conjunction with other mediums, using them alone is also very effective. Inks are highly viscous and transparent, so they make for beautiful watercolor substitutes—especially because the professional and artist’s inks are made with pigments rather than dye. Most name brand inks will not only advertise their pigmentation, but also list the types of pigments used on the bottles or their websites; this is true for both the Daler-Rowney FW and Liquitex INK! colors seen in these photographs. The colored illustration below is a perfect example of how inks can be used as watercolor substitutes, where the inks have been layered and worked with in a wet-on-dry technique.

Octopus Illustration, Daler-Rowney FW Fluorescent Inks

Unlike watercolors, however, inks have the capability of drying as a waterproof colorant. They work well layered in mixed media, as they have the ability to stay unaffected by gel mediums, pens and markers, and acrylic paints. This is true for both acrylic inks and most professional India inks. As you can see in the image below, the India ink has remained unmoved—even under layers liquid varnish, of gel pen ink, and acrylic paints applied via markers.

Mixed Media Mandala, Magenta Bombay India Ink

Of course, you can always use ink they way that they were intended: with a dip nib pen or calligraphy brush! I tend to use my ink for things other than writing, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t use these inks with their traditional tools! I have a small collection of nibs and pen handles, but I frequently reach for the smallest nib to add details and drawings onto the pages of my art journal. I recommend picking up an inexpensive set of nibs and a dip pen handle if you have interest in using inks in your mixed media; you can usually pick up a small set for cheap, like the one by Speedball, which I have, as seen in the image below. It’s a fun way to gain practice with these tools in order to see if calligraphy might also be a good fit for you! (Because, let’s be honest, one artistic hobby is never enough for a creative spirit!)

Since it’s freebie Wednesday, I have some ink-related goodies to share with you! The files available to you this week are hand-painted images of boarders, feathers, and flowers. The downloads are in PNG format with transparent (white on paper) backgrounds! That means that this week’s freebie images are capable of being used as both printable freebies and as hassle-free digital art collage elements! The images were originally painted using the magenta, brown, and violet colors of Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay India ink. They have been digitally altered to offer you these freebies in a variety of hues!

These are HD images available as full page PNG files. I advocate using them as collage material for your own arty goodness!! Just click the links below to print and/or download the PNGs! You can print them out, collage them in your art, or use them as digital goodies! Just get creative and have fun. The only thing that I ask is that you not redistribute these freebies or claim an unaltered version as your own. You do not need to credit me if you use these freebies in your art, but I definitely wouldn’t turn down a shout out!

Disclaimer: I have recently become an Amazon and Get Messy affiliate. Amazon links and Get Messy links are affiliate links. I will receive a small portion of the sale (at no extra cost to you) if you use these links to purchase the art supplies or subscribe to the Get Messy community for an annual membership. You support this blog and my ability to continue making art through the use of these links! (And also gain my unending gratitude!!!) The Art Snacks website and all other links included in this post are not affiliate links; they are included for educational purposes and for your convenience.

Share this:

Like this:

It’s the very first FREEBIE WEDNESDAY, and I could not be more delighted to share what I have in store for you today! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the hand drawn floral pattern that I shared last week. It was inspired by this Get Messy season, Art 101! Last week, my very first post and tutorial as a Creative Team member went live on the private site. (You can totally check out the site and see if you’d be interested in becoming a member by clicking HERE.) I was extremely excited to see what it would inspire throughout the Get Messy community!! The feedback and art that came out of it was 100% awesomeness! Because of all the pen play happening, I was inspired to create some florals as a simple and quick way to get my pen to paper. The result was unexpectedly beautiful! One flower became two, two became three, and suddenly I had filled an entire page with a gorgeous pattern!

Partially Drawn Floral Pattern from 3/9/2017

If you look through my art, you’re bound to see a lot of abstract shapes, silhouettes, eyes, and animals, but I tend to steer clear of florals. While I find flowers lovely (there’s a fresh bouquet on my desk right now), they just don’t seem to be a good fit with the imagery that I usually produce. However, these roses are special to me. My grandmother was absolutely obsessed with roses, and taught me how to draw them at a very young age. This rose shape is very close to the way that my grandmother taught me, starting in the center and building petals outward with overlapping sections. The image below is a quick tutorial on how I draw these roses, even though—if we’re being honest—they look quite a bit more like begonias or carnations.

4 Step Rose Drawing Tutorial

As you can see in the image below, I remark my lines two or three times so that there is more detail and character to each petal. This makes the edges of each petal appear folded and more natural. You’re more than welcome to try out this design and add it to your archive of floral drawing knowledge! Its just as easy as the simple daisy illustration that so many of us are guilty of doodling! It only took me about thirty minutes to fill an entire 8.5″ by 11″ page. The pen used, as seen below, was one that I received in my Art Snacks subscription box in July ’16. The fine tip, a 0.3 mm, and smooth gel ink a pleasure to work with! It is the Pentel brand Arts® Hybrid Technica used on 67 lb vellum Bristol paper.

Finished Floral Pattern from 3/9/2017

With the wonderful power of technology, I was able to color in the flowers with soft pink and purple hues and invert the line to whites. (This created a pattern that I liked so well it is now the wallpaper for my phone.) I also recolored the flowers with a more traditional red, and then adjusted the hue to green, which made the flowers appear to be succulents.

Preview of Rose Pattern Freebies

All three of these recolored patterns and the drawing in black and white are available to you for download for your personal use! They are HD images available as full page PDFs. I advocate using them as collage material for your own arty goodness!! Just click the links below to print and/or download the PDFs! You can print them out, collage them in your art, or use them as a new desktop wallpaper! Just get creative and have fun. The only thing that I ask is that you not redistribute these freebies or claim an unaltered version as your own. You do not need to credit me if you use these freebies in your art, but I definitely wouldn’t turn down a shout out!

Disclaimer: I have recently become an Amazon and Get Messy affiliate. Amazon links and Get Messy links are affiliate links. I will receive a small portion of the sale if you use these links to purchase the art supplies or subscribe to the Get Messy community for an annual membership. You support this blog and my ability to continue making art through the use of these links! (And also gain my unending gratitude!!!) The Art Snacks website and all other links included in this post are not affiliate links; they are included for educational purposes and for your convenience.

Share this:

Like this:

I’ve finally taken a break from jumping up and down in excitement to write this post, so let me start out by saying I’m ecstatic to be telling you all my good news!! Are you ready? For 2017, I will be pushing myself to be as creative as possible for my new position as a Creative Team member! I’ve been chosen to be a part of the Get Messy Creative Team for next year, and will be creating videos, tutorial posts, and sharing images of my art work for a group of 1500+ beautiful people who share my biggest passion: art journaling!

Art journaling is the one thing that has been with me for the majority of my life, before I knew that such a thing even had a name. I could not be happier to share my love of arting between the pages of a bound sketchbook, altering coffee table books, and getting my hands colorfully messy! I feel like my artistic style has come such a long way in the past couple of years, and finally defining my method of creating—with certain techniques, supplies, and tons of emotion—has not only helped me find my artistic voice, but is now letting me share it with others. (It sounds goofy, I know, but I’m in happy-shock, so please bare with me.)

A Sampling From My Art Journal Collection

When I was younger, before “art journaling” was defined to me, I called my art journals “my souls,” because that’s what it feels like: pouring my soul onto the pages of these once empty pages. While I may not be an emotional exhibitionist, I’ve always considered myself an open book, and oddly enough, it seems like sharing my “souls” is allowing me to prove it. So, let’s start with my most recently finished spread, one inspired by another Get Messy Creative Team member: Vanessa Oliver-Llyod, aka Dans Mon Crane!

“Altered Dimension” Art Journal Spread

Vanessa hosted an hour long live event on the private Get Messy Facebook page last week, and while I wasn’t able to participate in the fun during the event, I happily re-watched the video at my desk, following along with her process. I can’t say that this spread turned out looking even remotely close to Vanessa’s beautiful journal pages, (which you should totally check out HERE) but I’m still very happy with my end product! It was so odd to not begin my spread with blocking in shapes of acrylic paint, but starting as Vanessa did instead. I stuck true to all of the suggestions made during the live event, but I just couldn’t stop myself from making all of the wild doodles and drippys that I so love to add to my journal spreads! Her ideas plus my ideas turned up making a pretty unique spread.

“Altered Dimension” Close Up, Bottom Left

My spread ended up featuring a poker card, the queen of diamonds, which was altered to be far creepier than originally intended; her skin was painted green, her hood turned into a homage to The Bride of Frankenstein, and a third eye added to her chakra point. I’m not complaining by any means, as I fan-girl over weird and creepy pretty frequently, but the contrast of theme from that which was created during the live event is pretty extreme. The photo below is a close up of this altered card, presented next to a queen of hearts from the same deck for a better understanding of how much altering occurred.

“Altered Dimension” Comparison to Unaltered Playing Card

I had so much fun with this exercise, switching up my process, and doing new things in my art journal that I would have never done without Vanessa’s input! I wasn’t alone either, as this exercise got a lot of the Get Messy community members in the mood to create. Seeing everyone’s pages was pretty awesome, as each member applied the suggestions to art journal spreads while guided by intuition and staying true to their style! As you can see in the close up’s below, I also didn’t stray too far from my usual aesthetic.

“Altered Dimension” Close Up, Top Left

“Altered Dimension” Close Up, Top Right

“Altered Dimension” Close Up, Bottom Right

I’m so excited to not only work with Vanessa, but continue learning from her—and my new team members—over the course of this next year! If you haven’t joined this group, feel free to visit the Get Messy website and check out the FREE class, so that you can see if it’s right for you. I’d LOVE to see you there!! (Note: Even if you decide not to join, I’ll still be sharing a lot of stuff here, and I’m not going anywhere!)

Share this:

Like this:

ArtSnacks is a company which ships a small box containing 4 to 5 different art supplies and 1 piece of candy to your home each month. The box also includes a Menu, which explains what each art supply is, and a sticker with the ArtSnacks logo; any other items are entirely promotional.

It’s Inktober and I was thrilled to get this month’s ArtSnacks box! The ArtSnacks company advertised about pairing up with Inktober founder Jake Parker to release a specialty box (which I did not order), so I was hoping that the company would stick to the theme of inking; I was not disappointed! This month’s box was was very much ink themed, including: bottled ink, a paint brush to ink with, a black brush marker, and a white gel pen. Using these items would allow me to create that day’s Inktober drawing.

Contents of the October ArtSnacks Box

This month’s box included many items that are considered high quality brand name, and was a pleasure to open. The ink, advertised as special edition, is from Liquitex‘s special release Muted Collection. I received the pink version, and the color is like a desaturated magenta. The company also offers this ink in: grey, turquoise, green, and violet. The Copic Gasenfude nylon brush pen was the second (and just as impressive item) in this month’s box. I was excited to play with this marker, but found myself unsatisfied with the results, being someone who is not practiced with a brush marker. I’ll need more practice before I can give an honest review of the Gasenfude.

October ArtSnacks Supplies In Use

The third item, a Uni-Ball Singno Broad gel pen, will make a great new addiction to my art journaling, as the only gel pens that I use are Gelly Roll. The Uni-Ball gel pen is not light fast, but that is my only complaint, and I’ll run this pen dry for sure! The last supply in the October ArtSnacks box is a watercolor paintbrush, included for artists to use with the Liquitex ink. I was not impressed with this brush as a watercolor brush, but found it to act much more like an acrylic brush. I was sent the round 4 of the Lauren Series 4350 by Princeton Brush; it did not hold a lot of liquid, though it did keep a great shape. It will be a versatile addition to my collection, but after receiving two brushes from ArtSnacks of this brand, I don’t think I’d buy it on my own.

October ArtSnacks Menu

October’s ArtSnacks box also included the ArtSnacks Menu, the pencil/pretzel ArtSnacks brand temporary tattoo, and a Sour Punch rope candy. ArtSnacks values the 4 art supplies at a total of $25.94. I like the items in this box, and am especially happy to receive bottled ink, as it’s one of my new favorite supplies to play with in my art journaling. I would probably buy the Copic Gasenfude at least once on account of the brand’s superior reputation, but cannot say rather or not it will become a staple in my supply collection. The gel pen is a buy-again, and I’m glad to receive it, as I’m unwilling to purchase gel pens out of my comfort zone as gel pens are hit-or-miss for me. I don’t believe the brush is worth $5.75, but I’m cheap so my opinion doesn’t really count here.

Art Created with October ArtSnacks Supplies for Day 3 of Inktober

Click the video below (or go here) to see my unboxing of August’s ArtSnacks—and stick around to the second half in order to see my application of each supply for my version of the ArtSnacks Challenge!

You can see my first ArtSnacks unboxing from May by clicking HERE, and see my unboxing for the month of June by clicking HERE, and check out August’s unboxing HERE! If you subscribe to ArtSnacks (or any other artsy/craftsy monthly subscription box), tell me about it in the comments: I’d love to hear your input!

Note: This ArtSnacks subscription is out-of-pocket for my household. I am not affiliated with ArtSnacks nor any of the brands shown in this video or discussed in the blog post. I have received no payment or gifts to participate in this ArtSnacks unboxing. Yet. That being said, if you work for any of these companies, please feel free to get a hold of me and send me free stuff. Seriously, though, I’ll take what I can get.

Share this:

Like this:

Miss me? No? Because you have a life and don’t rely on this six month old blog for the majority of your entertainment? Fair enough. However, if that were in fact the case, I may have disappointed you with a lack of posting. Well, good news! I’ve got some pictures and a video to occupy your mind and delight your eyes. Hurrah!

So where have I been? Mostly, on Instagram. If you have an account on this social media giant, feel free to follow me or watch the hashtag #madebyemk, with which I tag 99% of my posts. If you haven’t yet clicked the link (or don’t plan to, because life is already hard enough) here’s a small preview of what you are missing…

Have I tempted you to check it out? If not, here is another great reason: IT’S INKTOBER, and I’m participating! Inktober is a drawing challenge, created by Jake Parker, in which artists dedicate themselves to drawing one image everyday of October. The creator releases a prompt list, but not all artists follow it; the point is to draw each day, and it doesn’t matter what, as long as it’s in ink. Anyone can participate in Inktober; the only thing you need is a piece of paper and a pen. If you’re a pen junkie like me, you may use this month as excuse to buy art supplies, and I have some suggestions. This Inktober, I’m using black Faber-Castell PITT pens and grey Faber-Castell brush tipped PITT pens in an Art-Plus Moleskine. The video below explains everything you need to know, including a quick review of the pens and notebook that I’m using for this month’s awesome drawing challenge. (You can also see this video HERE.)

The PITT pens I’ll be using are black and gray, and I purchased a set of each for this drawing challenge. The grey pack comes as a set of soft brush tips, including cold greys and warm grays, providing a huge range for shading and coloring. The first photo below is an example of the colors included. I strongly recommend some grays for shading, and the Faber-Castell PITT pens are all made with India ink, so they look pretty great with most drawing pens out there. The second photo below portrays a close up of each of the pen nibs from the black set. Most PITT pen users are comfortable with the smaller nibbed pens, but this set also included 3 larger tips that I had never used before. Both of these sets run about $25 USD, which isn’t a huge savings if you were to break the 8 pack down, so I don’t recommend purchasing the wallet sets if you only plan on using small nibs, (XS, S, F, and M) as it’s worth it to purchase those pens individually.

Pens Included In: PITT Pen Soft Brush 8 Pack of Assorted Greys

Pens included In: PITT Pen 8 Pack of Black Assorted Tip Size

If you are participating in Inktober, please leave a comment below with a link we can all check out to your blog or Instagram. I’m so excited to see what creativity transpires over the next month! I’ll be updating with my drawings all October as I join in the fun!!

Share this:

Like this:

I have a certain love for hanging lanterns. Honestly, all party supplies stir something inside me that just gets me in a good mood, whether it be streamers, balloons…presents. I have a bad habit of leaving decorations up far beyond a reasonable time frame, and in fact, have a string of green paper lanterns dangling from the ceiling in my studio; as of now, there are no plans to remove them. It’s should be no surprise that hanging lanterns would eventually find themselves layered into the artwork of my journal.

“Making Shadows” Art Journal Spread

Unlike most of my journal pages, which are created impromptu, this spread had a moment of conception when the muse struck me outside of my studio. I had this strange urge to use a wet paint technique to create red, multi-hued hanging lanterns. I wasn’t quite sure what this journal spread would be about (other than my affinity for celebratory ephemera) but I got to my desk ASAP, and started gluing down collage material to get my creative juices flowing. It wasn’t long before I had thick circles of red paint adorning my pages! For this spread, I also brought out my inks, KRINK paint tools, pens, and markers and let the magic happen.

“Making Shadows” Close Up (Left)

Some of these collage images came from my purchase of a coffee table book about National Geographic photographers, which will be my next altered book. Before I begin altering a book, I always remove some pages from it to alleviate stress from the binding, as my altered pages thicken the book quite a bit. The pages removed from my NatGeo book had some pretty interesting images, so I kept them for collage material. If you have interest in this book, you can find it on Amazon.com HERE. At his time, a new version of this book is available for $3.24 (plus shipping), which is an awesome price for the amount of beautiful images this large hardcover holds.

“Making Shadows” Close Up (Right)

To see the creation of the journal spread “Making Shadows,” you can watch the video below or click HERE.

As always, if you have any questions about supplies used, applied techniques, or just want to drop me a line, feel free to connect with me in the comments below!

Share this:

Like this:

About 5 months ago, an artist who specializes in art journaling, Roxanne Coble, released her first solo online art class called Creatures. I had previously taken a class from this individual from a group course that she was involved in, and was very interested in taking another class with her. She’s had professional training in art, meaning she knows what she’s talking about, her illustration style is cute and quirky, and she has great eye for detail. After months of thinking, “Should I, shouldn’t I?” Roxanne released her second solo online class, Lyrical, and began selling the two as a package deal; I finally broke down and spent the cash. When it comes to the new dual course from Coble, I have only taken the time to sit down and work while watching the set of Creatures videos, and today I’m sharing with you my first (and so far, only) spread from this course.

For those of you who have never taken an online art class, let me explain the basics. The first thing you do is give someone your monies, usually $25-$75, via paypal through etsy or another similar website. This cash gets you a PDF, which usually contains a supply list, some words from your instructor, and instructions on how you can view the how-to videos that pertain to the course. These videos are either emailed to you or online and accessible via a password, which may be included in the PDF file. I’ve purchased about 4 online art classes now from different instructors, and it has always worked this way for me.

The Creatures course is available on etsy HERE for $55, and the Creatures and Lyrical course bundle is HERE for $95.